How would you live if you knew exactly when you’d die? Would that strive you to make the most of your days, or cause you to squander the time you have. What if you carried a physical clock that ticked away each second, a constant reminder of the precise moment you’d take your last breath? Those and more are the questions that drive the dystopian series, Out of Time, by Nadine Brandes.

Have you ever seen the step you need to take, and been afraid to make the jump? Did you know the direction your life/job/career needed to go, but the thought of leaving your comfort zone just didn’t make logical sense? I’ve found myself in this place lately, and let me tell you, living the life God calls you to is exhilarating. [Read more…]

One of the things that I’ve learned along my writing journey is the importance of input. Just over a year ago, I submitted my first piece of Flash Fiction to a christian speculative fiction magazine called Splickety. That first story scared me. I read the theme, saw the story unfold in my head, and scribbled out a masterpiece. I sent my first draft to five or six people asking for feedback. A few days later, waiting in my inbox was several copies of my perfect story, marred and covered with little red lines. [Read more…]

I’ve recently come to a couple of realizations. These aren’t new concepts, and are probably old hat to a lot of you. They really aren’t new to me, either, but I tend to need a refresher on some of Life’s lessons. I don’t think I’m alone on that one. The first of these mind-altering lessons is that life is crazy. Can someone with a three year-old give me an Amen? Some days (weeks/months/years) are full of unstoppable forces and uncontrollable circumstances. There’s nothing that you or I can do about those, and sometimes we’re overcome by the stress of it all. Other times, we fill our time with doing, and being, and living. And that’s OK. It’s OK to be busy, as long as you remember lesson number two:

For the past several years, my alma mater Heartland Christian College, has hosted a two day youth conference called Awaken. The goal of these meetings is to interact with leaders and like minded people, but most importantly to interact with God and awaken to His will for our lives. I’ve been a part of these meetings in various outlets: bass playing, running sound, stage setup, stage tear down and more recently as a leader in our youth group. This year, I’ve been asked to do something that I’ve not done before…

I hate my alarm clock. My wife can attest that most days I completely ignore it as it goes off three or four times. Once I’m out of bed, it doesn’t take long for me to be awake, but I’d rather stay in my warm cocoon and get that extra five minutes. This morning as I turned my alarm off, I glanced at a couple emails. One of those emails caused me to give an audible shout of joy(This doesn’t happen often) This email was from the editor at Splickety Prime. The latest contest issue of Splickety Prime launches today.